• Voto:
Sul finire degli anni ’70 in Inghilterra, complice una certa ammirazione che il punk non aveva mai nascosto verso la musica e la sotto-cultura rockabilly, cominciò una riscoperta del rock and roll americano degli “anni d’oro”.
I “rocker ribelli” come Gene Vincent, Charlie Feathers e Jerry Lee Lewis vennero eletti a modello, insieme ad Elvis Presley ed agli altri artisti della Sun Records. Era il 1979, quando a Long Island (New York), Brian Setzer (chitarrista cantante) formò, insieme ai vecchi compagni di scuola Lee Rocker (contrabbasso) e Slim Jim Phantom (batteria), quello che sarebbe divenuto il gruppo simbolo del revival rockabilly: gli Stray Cats.
Setzer si era fatto le ossa suonando con i Bloodless Pharaohs ed i Tom Cats, specializzandosi nelle cover di classici d’ epoca, di cui ormai aveva assorbito alla perfezione lo stile e la tecnica. Cominciò a scrivere pezzi propri con il nuovo gruppo, che iniziò ad esibirsi dal vivo. Sfortunatamente i tempi in america non erano ancora maturi e la band non riuscì a conquistarsi alcun contratto discografico; l’anno seguente decisero di tentare la sorte in Inghilterra, dove si rivelarono il gruppo giusto nel posto giusto.
Infatti si guadagnarono rapidamente una grossa reputazione nel circuito dei club londinesi, che li portò a firmare per la Arista (dopo neanche un anno dal loro arrivo), con cui pubblicarono questo loro primo album nel 1981. Il successo arrivò quasi da subito, grazie al primo singolo, “Runaway Boys”, vero e proprio inno alla gioventù bruciata. Seguirono a breve altri due grossi hit, le bellissime “Rock This Town” e “Stray Cat Strut”, che raggiunsero entrambe i vertici delle classifiche. La prima, uno scatenato rock and roll con un assolo di chitarra da far invidia a Chuck Berry, diverrà uno dei loro più grandi successi. “Stray Cat Strut” (altro cavallo di battaglia), con il trascinante ritmo swing scandito dal celeberrimo slapping bass del grande Lee Rocker, è degna di essere collocata tra i capolavori del genere. E “Rumbe In Brighton” (la dettagliata cronaca di una rissa tra bande di rockabilly e di skinheads) avrebbe potuto far parte della colonna sonora di Quadrophenia. “Storm The Embassy”, è forse la canzone dove si fa più marcata un’impronta new wave/punk (ovviamente inglese): sembra quasi una delle “escursioni rockabilly” dei Clash.
La devozione verso i miti dell’epoca è ben evidenziata dalle numerose cover presenti (che erano una parte fondamentale del fenomeno revival): c’è Gene Vincent (“Double Talkin Baby”), Eddy Cochran (“Jeanie Jeanie Jeanie”), Warren Smith (“Ubangi Stomp”), Ricky Nelson (“My One Destre”) e Roy Montrell (grande chitarrista, membro della band di Fats Domino; “Wild Saxophone” è la rilettura di una sua canzone). I musicisti dimostrano grande talento, ricreando alla perfezione l’atmosfera delle dance hall americane, sature di whisky, sudore e fumo.
Non si risparmiano virtuosismi, senza però mai appiattirsi su una vuota imitazione dello stile. Il disco, che rimane una pietra miliare del genere, fu seguito a brevissima distanza da un secondo LP meno fortunato, “Gonna Ball” e l’anno seguente uscì per il mercato americano “Built For Speed”, un misto dei due precedenti album (inediti in America). Ma l’improvvisa esplosione del revival rockabilly fu seguita da un’altrettanto rapido declino, e nel 1984 dopo un altro paio di dischi, il gruppo si sciolse.
Negli anni seguenti si riunirono varie volte, producendo lavori di qualità altalenante, ma rimasero sempre il gruppo che meglio di ogni altro ha saputo interpretare musica e stile di quei leggendari anni ’50.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Runaway Boys (03:01)
Get kicked out for coming home at dawn,
Mom and Dad cursed the day you were born,
Throw your clothes into a duffle bag
shoutin' as ya slam the door home is a drag
Who can I turn to and where can I stay ?
I heard a place is open all night and all day
There's a place you can go where the cops don't know
You can act real wild they don't treat you like a child
Runaway boys
Your hair's all greasy and you feel like a slob,
You're only fifteen and you can't get a job,
Go into the luncheonette and shoot a few games
Losing all your quarters, man it's always the same
Steal a couple of bucks to buy a new toy,
Slip into the alley with the
Runaway boys
Runnin' faster, faster all the time
You're under age and God knows, that's a crime !
Runaway boys
02 Fishnet Stockings (02:26)
Well my sweet baby wears fishnet stockings
When she starts a rockin' there ain't no stoppin'
Singing wop bop a doo dop fishnet stockings
Shoo wop a doo dop when she's rockin'
Bop bop a doo dop there ain't no stoppin'
Rockin' with my baby in her fishnet stockings
Well she's got a pair in pink
She's got a pair in red
When she puts the black ones she makes me loose my head
Singing wop bop a doo dop fishnet stockings
Shoo wop a doo dop when she's rockin'
Bop bop a doo dop there ain't no stoppin'
Rockin' with my baby in her fishnet stockings
One time
Well she's got a pair in pink
She's got a pair in red
When she puts the black ones she makes me loose my head
Singing wop bop a doo dop fishnet stockings
Shoo wop a doo dop when she's rockin'
Bop bop a doo dop there ain't no stoppin'
Rockin' with my baby in her fishnet stockings
Rock it again now
Well my sweet baby wears fishnet stockings
When she starts a rockin' there ain't no stoppin'
Singing wab bop a doo dop fishnet stockings
Shoo wop a doo dop when she's rockin'
Bop bop a doo dop there ain't no stoppin'
Rockin' with my baby in her fishnet stockings
03 Ubangi Stomp (03:13)
OoooOoooOooo-ah!
Well I rocked over Italy and I rocked over Spain
Rocked in Memphis, it was all the same.
'Till I rocked to Africa and rolled off the ship,
Seen them natives do an odd looking skip.
Parted the weeds and looked over the swamp,
And I seen them cats doing the Ubangi Stomp.
Ubangi stomp, reggae roll, beats any stomp that you ever been told.
Ubangi stomp, Ubangi style, when it hits it drives them Ubangi's wild.
Well I looked up the chief he invited me in,
He said, Hey big jam session's about to begin
He handed me a tom tom, I picked up the beat,
That crazy thing send shivers to my feet.
I rocked and I rolled, skipped with a smile,
Gonna Ubangi stomp man, Ubangi style.
Ubangi stomp, reggae roll, beats any stomp that you ever been told.
Ubangi stomp, Ubangi style, when it hits it drives them Ubangi's wild.
Well I rocked all night and part of the day,
Had a good rockin' time with the chief's daugher May.
We were making good time and gettin' to know,
When the Captain said, "Sorry we gotta go."
Well, well that's all right man now, go right ahead,
Gonna Ubangi stomp 'till I roll over dead.
Ubangi stomp, reggae roll, beats any stomp that you ever been told.
Ubangi stomp, Ubangi style, when it hits it drives them Ubangi's wild.
04 Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie (02:19)
Well, Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie come and dance with me
There's a real wild party and the booze is free
First we'll fuck
Yeah yeah yeah tough luck
Yeah yeah yeah then we'll rock
Rock and roll, well do what you're told
Well I live in Bellmore U.S.A.
Well I rock all night and I sleep all day
First we'll fuck
Yeah yeah yeah tough luck
Yeah yeah yeah then we'll rock
Rock and roll, well do what you're told
Baby bay you will have to wait
I'll be ready at eight
I keep a knockin' at your front door
I wanted you alone till I get some more
Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie got my blue suede shoes on
Got a pink carnation and my black slacks too
First we'll fuck
Yeah yeah yeah tough luck
Yeah yeah yeah then we'll rock
Rock and roll, well do what you're told
Baby baby you will have to wait
I'll be ready at eight
I keep a knockin' at your front door
I wanted you alone till I get some more
Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie come and dance with me
There's a real wild party and the booze is free
First we'll fuck
Yeah yeah yeah tough luck
Yeah yeah yeah then we'll rock
Rock and roll, well do what you're told
05 Storm the Embassy (04:03)
Fifteen man taken captive in a hostile foreign land
Scorchin' sun beaming down onto miles and miles of sand
A mideast country being ruled
By a man who thinks it's fun
To hold our people in return
For a sjah that's on the run
I think it's funny
Freedom takes money
It's a heartache and it's hard luck
Well that's tough shit
Man it's no fun
Storm the Iranian embassy
Before they start shootin' down you and me
Scourge of suits in control
Of the diplomaticness
While the nations of the world
Look on and they care less
The Soviet Union won't agree
To an economic plan
And then they laugh and march their troops into Afghanistan
Orders from Moscow
Invade Teheran now
It's a heartache and it's hard luck
Well that's tough shit
Man it's no fun
Storm the Iranian embassy
Before they start shootin' at you and me
A nation worries and reads the papers
Hoping that no-one has died
Hearin' rumours that the hostages
Will soon be tried as spies
Demonstrations on the street
Saying that the end is near
The man from New York Times on vacation
Wants to know what happened here
Agressive acts now
We want the best now
Fifteen moms crying
Is my son dying ?
It's a heartache and it's hard luck
Well that's tough shit
Man it's no fun
Storm the Iranian embassy
Before they start shootin' at you and me
06 Rock This Town (03:25)
Well, my baby and me went out late Saturday night
I had my hair piled high and my baby just looked so right
Well, pick you up at ten, gotta have you home at two
Mama don't know what I got in store for you
But that's all right ‘cause we're looking as cool as can be
Well, we found a little place that really didn't look half bad
I had a whisky on the rocks, and changed half a dollar for the jukebox
Well, I put a quarter right into that can, but all they played was music hall, man
Come on, baby, baby, let's get out of here right away
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
We're gonna rock this town
Make ‘em scream and shout
Let's rock, rock, rock, man, rock
We're gonna rock till we pop
We're gonna rock till we drop
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
LEAD
Well, we're having a ball just 'a bopping on the big dance floor
Well, there's a real square cat, he looks a 1974
Well, he looked at me once, he looked at me twice
Look at me again and there's gonna be fight
We're gonna rock this town
We're gonna rip this place apart
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
We're gonna rock this town
Make ‘em scream and shout
Let's rock, rock, rock, man, rock
We're gonna rock till we pop
We're gonna rock till we drop
We're gonna rock this town
Rock this place apart
LEAD
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
We're gonna rock this town
Make ‘em scream and shout
Let's rock, rock, rock, man, rock
We're gonna rock till we pop
We're gonna rock till we drop
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
We're gonna rock this town
Rock it inside out
Whoa
07 Rumble in Brighton (03:13)
Well there's the rockabilly cats with their pomps real high
Wearing black drape coats, all real gone guys
The cool skinheads with roll up jeans
Looking real tough and mighty mean
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight
Ringside seats for the neighborhood fight,
There ain't a Godddamn thing that the cops can do,
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight.
They sew fish hooks under their colars,
Got razors in their shoes
"Go cat go" is their battle cry
World War Three is starting to brew
Well, the skinheads all use black jacks
And they're looking mighty mean
They got chains wrapped around their fingers
And their heads are all shaven clean
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight
Ringside seats for the neighborhood fight,
There ain't a Goddamn thing that the cops can do,
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight.
Well there ain't a man left standing,
So let's all go grab a beer
No team is a winner
So we'll see you all next year
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight
Ringside seats for the neighborhood fight,
There ain't a Goddamn thing that the cops can do,
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight.
Rumble in Brighton tonight
Rumble on the beach tonight,
Rumble in Brighton tonight
Rumble on the beach tonight,
Well man there ain't a Goddamn thing that the cops can do,
So line back up for a side line view
Ringside seats for the neighborhood fight
There's a rumble in Brighton tonight.
08 Stray Cat Strut (03:16)
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh,
Black and orange stray cat sittin' on a fence
Ain't got enough dough to pay the rent
I'm flat broke but I don't care
I strut right by with my tail in the air
Stray cat strut, I'm a (ladies' cat),
A feline Casanova, (hey man, thats where its at)
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can
Yeah don't cross my path
I don't bother chasing mice around Oh no.
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry,
Wild stray cat, you're a real gone guy.
I wish I could be as carefree and wild,
but I got cat class and I got cat style.
I don't bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry,
Wild stray cat, you're a real gone guy.
I wish I could be as carefree and wild,
but I got cat class and I got cat style.
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